Ministers are being urged to introduce robust protections for whistleblowers as part of the government’s forthcoming diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) legislation, aimed at tackling race and disability pay inequality in the workplace.
The proposed Equality (Race and Disability) Bill, expected to be tabled this year, will require employers with more than 250 staff to publicly report on disparities between white and non-disabled employees and their Black, minority ethnic, and disabled colleagues—mirroring existing gender pay gap reporting requirements.
The bill forms part of what Equalities Minister Seema Malhotra (pictured) described as the government’s “absolute” commitment to improving workplace equity. It is also expected to introduce a new regulatory unit to enforce equal pay, with powers to demand action plans from employers detailing how they intend to improve outcomes.
One of the key recommendations submitted during the recent government consultation—now closed—calls for legal protection for whistleblowers who expose organisations that withhold or manipulate pay gap data. Advocates say this will be essential to ensure compliance and build trust in the new system.
The Black Equity Organisation (BEO), which submitted a detailed response, is leading calls for transparency and enforcement. The not-for-profit, co-founded by figures including Foreign Secretary David Lammy and broadcaster David Olusoga, works to advance racial equity and co-runs the F100 Growth Fund in partnership with Sky, supporting Black entrepreneurs who receive less than 1% of UK and US venture capital investment.
“Support for whistleblowers is essential,” the BEO said in its submission. “There should be a confidential channel for employees to report concerns, to ensure they are not penalised.”
It also called for public naming of companies that fail to submit reports and urged that pay data be disaggregated to reflect the different experiences of Black and minority ethnic groups.
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) echoed those concerns and pushed for the reporting threshold to be lowered to companies with over 50 employees, citing the need to capture low-paid workers in smaller businesses.
“If the legislation is to be effective, it needs to apply to the majority of workplaces,” the TUC said.
The UK’s direction stands in stark contrast to developments in the United States, where anti-DEI sentiment has intensified under the influence of Donald Trump-aligned factions. In May, the US Department of Justice pledged to use the False Claims Act against federal contractors running DEI programmes, encouraging whistleblowers to bring lawsuits in exchange for a share of financial recoveries.
While that model incentivises whistleblowers to undermine DEI efforts, UK campaigners are pressing for the opposite: protections for those who defend transparency and equality in the workplace.
A government spokesperson said: “We are committed to introducing disability and ethnicity pay gap reporting into legislation in the King’s Speech. Our consultation on mandatory reporting has now closed and we are reviewing all of the responses.”
With political divisions around DEI policy deepening—fuelled by culture war rhetoric from parties such as Reform UK and voices within Blue Labour—advocates fear that without strong enforcement mechanisms, the new bill could fall short of its ambition to drive systemic change.
Business leaders are now watching closely to see whether the government will create a regulatory and legal environment where DEI efforts are not only encouraged but meaningfully protected.
